Minnesota Moves Past UNI, 3-1

Saturday, December 2

Minneapolis, Minnesota

8 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

27-9

Minnesota

28-5

UNI

Minnesota

Minnesota Moves Past UNI, 3-1

12/2/2017 10:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score UNI-Minnesota-boxscore-2017-ncaa

BOX SCORE (PDF) | SEASON STATS (PDF)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota - The No. 7-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball squad advanced to the NCAA regional semifinal with a 3-1 triumph over the University of Northern Iowa Panthers on Saturday at Maturi Pavilion. Minnesota won by set scores of 25-18, 20-25, 25-19, 25-17.

Minnesota (28-5 overall) pounded out a .311 hitting percentage with 66 kills and limited UNI to a .176 hitting percentage and 55 kills. Minnesota edged UNI in digs, 82-80.

The Golden Gophers were led by Alexis Hart with 20 kills and Dalianliz Rosado with 26 digs. UNI was led by a pair of double-doubles from Bri Weber (16 kills, 14 digs) and Karlie Taylor (15 kills, 15 digs). UNI senior setter Heather Hook posted 41 assists, seven digs and five kills in her final collegiate match.

UNI took its first lead of the match at 9-8 on a block by Piper Thomas and Jaydline Seehase. Minnesota answered with a 4-0 run to retake the lead, 12-9. UNI closed the gap to 18-16, but a 7-2 run to end the first set gave the Gophers an early advantage, 25-18.

The Panthers evened it up in the second set in front of 4,657 fans that came out to watch the NCAA second round match. UNI hit .364 in the second set with 18 kills and two errors. Taylor pounded down six kills in the set. UNI held a 15-10 lead and saw it trimmed to one at 15-14, but the Panthers refused to give in. UNI ran off three straight points to push its lead back to four at 18-14. The Panthers were able to sideout at a 64-percent clip in the second set that keyed a 25-20 victory.

Minnesota swung the momentum back in its favor in the third set and took advantage of seven late UNI attack errors. The Golden Gophers tallied 17 kills and five errors with a 73-percent sideout effort. The Panthers and Gophers were even at 14-14 before the home squad put together a 7-1 run that left the Panthers in a 2-1 set hole.

Minnesota closed out the match with a 25-17 victory in the fourth set. The Gophers tallied a 77-percent sideout effort in the final set and made only one attack error to go with 17 kills. UNI posted 12 kills and seven errors in the fourth set for a .132 attack percentage.

UNI closes its 2017 season at 27-9.